The American dream of buying a home now costs less than the amount of debt the federal government has accumulated per every two workers in the United States.

As of the end of July, the total federal debt was $39,771,617,162,466.97, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. During that same month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 162,177,000 people employed in the United States.

That means that the $39,771,617,162,466.97 in debt equaled approximately $245,236 per worker — or approximately $490,472 for two workers.

Meanwhile, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the median price of a house sold in the United States in the second quarter of this year was $410,700.

So, the approximately $490,472 in federal debt per husband and wife who are both employed is more than the $410,700 they would have had to pay this June if they had bought a house at the median price.

On Jan. 3, 2025, when the 119th Congress convened with Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate, the total federal debt was $36,164,146,727,045.82. That means the debt increased by $3,607,470,435,421.15 — in just 19 months — to hit $39,771,617,162,466.97 at the end of this July.

Ten years ago, the Republican National Convention approved a party platform that criticized then-President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party for running up the federal debt. “The President and the Democratic Party,” it said, “have abandoned their promise of being accountable to the American people.

"They have nearly doubled the size of the national debt.”

That 2016 Republican platform called for controlling the debt.

“Our national debt is a burden on our economy and families,” it said. “The huge increase in the national debt demanded by and incurred during the current Administration has placed a significant burden on future generations. We must impose firm caps on future debt, accelerate the repayment of the trillions we now owe in order to reaffirm our principles of responsible and limited government, and remove the burdens we are placing on future generations.”

When Obama left office on Jan. 20, 2017, the total federal debt was $19,947,304,555,212.49. That was about half of the $39,771,617,162,466.97 in debt that had accumulated by the end of this July.

As this column has noted before, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has listed “fiscal responsibility” on his official website as one of “The 7 Core Principles of Conservatism.” At the time he posted this message, he stated that the debt “now exceeds $33.5 trillion” — more than $6 trillion less than it is today.

“Because government has refused to live within its means, America is facing an unprecedented debt and spending crisis,” the message stated.

“Congress has a moral and constitutional duty to resolve the crisis, bring spending under control, balance the federal budget,” it stated.

Three years ago — on May 16, 2023 — Sen. John Thune (R.-S.D.), who is now the Senate majority leader, went down to the Senate floor to warn his colleagues about the national debt.

“Our national debt currently stands at more than $31 trillion,” Thune said. “$31 trillion.”

“Our debt has already exceeded the size of our economy, and within a few short years, we are going to be spending more just meeting the interest on our nation’s debt than we will on national defense,” he said.

“We have to find a way to rein in federal spending,” Thune said. “Otherwise the size of our national debt is going to crush our economy — and seriously limit the federal government’s ability to meet even its most basic responsibilities, like funding Social Security and national defense.”

The day that Thune gave this speech, the federal debt closed at $31,458,557,909,691.70. That was $8,313,059,252,775.27 less than it was at the end of this July.

In the first nine months of this fiscal year (October through June), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement, the federal government brought in $4,151,410,000,000 in taxes but spent $5,517,918,000,000 — running a deficit of $1,366,508,000,000. Significant spending items included $1.244 trillion for Social Security, $827 billion in net interest, $780 billion on Medicare, and $713 billion on national defense.

According to an estimate published by the Congressional Budget Office on Aug. 10, the federal deficit for the entirety of fiscal year 2026 will be $2.1 trillion.

This is happening while a party that 10 years ago called for controlling the debt controls both houses of Congress and the White House.

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